good morning. staggering. entire cities and towns up and down the east coast unrecognizable in the wake of sandy. home after home submerged, police forced to carry out daring rooftop rescues in new york, while thousands of people are still stranded in new jersey. a striking view of the catastrophic damage live from above today, wednesday, october 31st, 2012. from nbc news, this is a special edition of "today," the aftermath of sandy with matt lauer and savannah guthrie, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza.

>> and good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a wednesday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> good morning, everyone. i'm esgotry. it's one thing to see sandy's damage from the ground, but when you see it from the air it's truly striking. the magnitude of the loss is just stunning. >> it's sickening. right now natalie is over a helicopter in a dangerous situation in new jersey where another fire is burning. this has been a problem over the last couple of days. most likely that is storm-related. just north of seaside heights. first responders unable to reach the scene there. >> we'll check in with natalie in a bit but first the latest on sandy. death toll has risen to 65 people, most here in new york state. 29 lost here. some 6.6 million customers are still without power across the region, and this afternoon president obama heads to new jersey to tour the damage with governor christie. >> here in new york city mayor

michael bloomberg says it could be several more days before the subway system is running again, but limited air travel is resuming this morning at jfk international, and at newark airport over in new jersey. the stock exchange is also set to reopen today. those are some hopeful signs, but the challenges are still enormous. let's get right to natalie up in the helicopter over new jersey. natalie? >> reporter: and good morning to you, matt. flying over here and taking a look down at the jersey shoreline it's just absolutely staggering to see what i'm seeing now. you've been talking about the fire that we are over right now in mantoloking, new jersey. this shoreline, as you know, completely devastated. the governor christie saying the shore of his youth is gone. the rides he took his kids on this summer are in the atlantic ocean. this fire, as far as we know, appears to be storm-related, but obviously we cannot confirm that right now, but what we've been able to make out by some of the

structures down there, it appears some homes here have been damaged. lots of points of fire, about 25 or more that i've counted so far. the aftermath of this storm as we have seen, as you yourself witnessed in breezy point, queens yesterday. these fires are likely related to natural gas lines that are sparking the fires or downed electrical lines. this one, because of the location of it, as you can see, what was the shoreline and beautiful ocean front property, now completely pushed back, gone, covered by sand and fire there now here in mantoloking, new jersey. we're about four miles north of seaside. we know the situation there. the rides, the famous boardwalk, has also been completely wiped away. this is a community and area so vastly devastated.

many, many people hopefully are out of these areas and have evacuated before the storm, but this fire very involved here. it's going to take a while perhaps before first responders can get to this because this is part of a barrier island. so it's very much cut off, and what was -- what is left of the roads very hard to make out there as well, so situation developing here as we are keeping our eye on this here for you, and we'll have more of an overview of the entire jersey shoreline coming up throughout the morning. matt? >> thanks, natalie. we'll be checking in with you several times during the show. we appreciate it very much. >> let's get to nbc's lester holt now. he has made his way to point pleasant beach, new jersey this morning. lester, good morning to you. >> reporter: savannah, good morning. you saw it from the air. this is what it looks like up close. keep in mind this goes interest community to community. point pleasant beach, the boardwalk, what's left of it. this was part of a hotel here that was along the boardwalk,

popular place. sand is everywhere. places it didn't used to be pushed inland for blocks and blocks. in fact, a moment ago i realized i was standing in the middle of a swimming pool. it's now a giant sandbox. president obama will visit the jersey shore later today. governor christie will tour him around to see the damage along this battered coastline, but, of course, it's not just new jersey. this entire region took a nasty hit. unimaginable devastation and staggering scenes of damage stretching all across the northeast as families try to recover from sandy's unforgiving wrath. >> i'm floored by what happened. >> reporter: neighborhoods are ravaged. cars and home swallowed by water. >> it was unbelievable. i never saw anything like that in my life. >> shredded debris and trees ripped from the ground, knocking down power lines and leaving an open wound of heartbreak up and down the coast. >> it was the scariest thing

i've ever seen. >> reporter: across 15 states millions have been left without power. new jersey, the state where sandy came ashore, was hardest hit. in seaside heights, the boardwalk's been ripped apart. the amusement park there before and after the storm. the roller coaster now in the atlantic ocean. the ocean swept so far onshore everything is now covered in sand. the governor told brian williams the jersey shore as we know it is forever changed. >> i'm committed to rebuilding. we're going to do it, because as you said, it is not only the heart of our economy, it's the soul of new jersey. the jersey shore is the soul of new jersey. >> reporter: even inland in little ferry, evacuations continued into tuesday night. >> you have no one to go to. water is rushing in. water is going by, and you don't know what to do. >> reporter: new york pummeled, too. in breezy point, more than 100 homes were destroyed by fire in the flood-ravaged coastal

community. >> we're just devastating, blowing from one building to the next one, and those buildings were close together. >> reporter: in this dramatic rescue captured on video, a new york city police department helicopter plucked five adults and one child from rooftops in a flooded section of staten island. elsewhere in new york city, hundreds of thousands still without power. the stock market reopens today, but important parts of the city were crippled by flooding and debris. >> downtown manhattan, we had the hudson river came over the banks and was pouring in to the ground zero site. >> reporter: new york's train and subway service are suspended, and it may be days before they resume. schools closed again today. that high rise collapsed crane above new york city is still dangling, an ominous reminder of sandy's lingering danger. all along the south shore of new york's long island there's

damage, home and lives lost. connecticut's coastline littered with submerged homes. sandy's impact is being felt across a large part of the country. west virginia, pounded with two feet of snow. and even lake michigan churning with dangerous high waves as the effects of the storm were felt well inland. the economic aftermath is still unfolding, but in spite of a destruction and loss, a resolve to rebuild and to reflect. >> i still have my life. we still have our health. >> reporter: when he visits with the president here along the shore today, governor christie is execs pected to talk to the president about the possibility of using the armey corps of engineers to rebuild this area. yesterday at a news conference the governor waxed on about the new jersey of his youth, the jersey shore of his youth. i think a lot of folks who come

here are feeling awfully jost nick and sad, matt. >> lester holt, i think a lot of people agree with you on that. thanks very much. al roker is 70 miles south in atlantic city. that city took a major hit as well. al, good morning to you. >> well, good morning, matt and savannah. you want to talk about nostal a nostalgia. you can't think of atlantic city without thinking about one of its most iconic features, the boardwalk. well, i'm on the boardwalk, but the problem is the ocean where the boardwalk should be is about 200 yards that way, and that's the danger here when you have the power of water and it meets a force and something like a boardwalk, even though as sturdy as this thing has been, and it stood for 80 years, it was no match, and it is now pushed as far south as parts of the casinos that make this city famous as well. but, even though it has been destroyed, the mayor here says they will rebuild.

people think atlantic city, they think the boardwalk, and you're looking at -- you're looking at part of that boardwalk. what do you do when you see something like this? >> well, again, you know, this can be replaced. human lives cannot be replaced, and so we'll do what we can and what we must and what we should do to regroup and pull ourselves together. we'll rebuild this boardwalk, no doubt about it. >> you see you're going to be a direct hi. you're in the command center. things pass, safe to go out. what do you see when you get out there? >> to be honest with you the damage is pretty extensive so it could have been a lot worse. i see the glass as half full and not half empty. given the catastrophic nature of this storm, i certainly expected it to be a lot worse than it was. >> there was a back and forth, well, the governor of your state, called you out saying that you countermanneded a directive from him to make sure that people were evacuated, and you dispute what he said. >> i'm extraordinarily disappointed in elected

officials who decide to tell people to directly contravene an order from the governor. that's going to cost people significa significantly. >> i can tell you, said on a number of occasions, both in the electronic immediate why and print media residents should heeded clarion call and get out of the city. we said it repeatedly and consistently. >> what lessons were learned from sandy? >> well, again, you can never be too prepared, and the other side of that coin is no matter how prepared you, are you're always going to get thrown a curveball, so the best thing that you can do is to stay prayerful, stay diligent and try to do better than you did this time the next time. >> and long-term challenges? >> to rebuild this boardwalk and other parts of the city and make it bigger and better than it was before. >> and savannah, what's amazing is all those scenes of streets under water, well, 24 hours later there's almost no flooding here. the waters have receded, and the

cleanup is now under way, even as we're speaking. >> what a job it is, al roker in atlantic city, we'll check back in with you in a few minutes. >> let's go back over to natalie flying over the jersey shore this morning. she's got some more damage to talk about. natalie? >> good morning, matt. as the sun has come up here now over mantaloking, new jersey, i'm just a couple of miles north of where lester is, you can see the boats down below us have been tossed as if they were toys into homes. from what i can tell from above, practically there's no street left that makes this point accessible. there are fires burning in the area, and first responders to get there, it's been completely cut off. we're hoping there are no people still in these homes because there's not much left. some structures obviously still standing there, but there you see some of the fires as we pan down, and it's -- it appears to be four or five at least from

what i can tell different lots that have been consumed by these fires, and would i imagine, as you see, they are still smouldering, so this is something that overnight, perhaps it developed, and nobody has been able to get to these areas to try to take care of this situation, but this area of mantaloking new jersey. this is an affluent community. lots of beautiful homes. i have friends who have homes down here, and they have told me that they have seen pictures of people kayaking basically in and around the houses just to try to survey the damage because yesterday that was the only way to get around, but, you know, as we see with more daylight now, the sands, the cars, have completely overtaken what was a beautiful neighborhood along the jersey shore, and governor chris christie, president obama is going to be joining him. once again they will be taking a tour of some of the most devastated areas of the jersey shoreline. matt, back to you. >> natalie, thanks very much.

>> we'll check back in with her as she has that view from high above the jersey shore. another huge story going on in this country. hard to believe that the presidential election is just six days away now, and the storm has forced several states to take a closer look at their election day plans. nbc's chuck todd is nbc's political director and chief white house correspondent. chuck, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. mitt romney actually resumes a full campaign schedule today in florida, but president obama will focus for one more day fully on sandy recovery efforts. he'll get that firsthand look of the jersey shore and the damage there later today. election day may be six days away, but the president appears to believe the best politics, stay off the campaign trail. today it's storm-ravaged new jersey. tuesday red cross headquarters. >> my message to the federal government. no bureaucracy, no red tape, get resources where they are needed as fast as possible. >> reporter: mitt romney also suspended campaigning tuesday but still traveled to the

battleground state of ohio to encourage donations to the red cross. >> i appreciate the fact that people right here in dayton got up this morning, some went to the grocery store i see and purchased some things that these families will need. >> reporter: governor romney is back campaigning today holding three rallies across florida. but the president remains in disaster response mode. he'll survey storm damage with new jersey's republican governor chris christ yeempt among issues christie plans to bring up, how to build a more weatherproof jersey shore. >> one of the things i'll be talking to the president about tomorrow is bringy the army corps in immediately to talk to us about how's the best way to rebuild the jersey shore. >> reporter: despite election day on the horizon, christie didn't seem very concerned about how his state would hold an election. >> i don't give a damn about election day. it doesn't matter a lick to me, so let the politicians who are on the ballot worry about election day. it's not my problem. i'm not dealing with it at the moment. >> reporter: local officials in new jersey and other states are worried about next tuesday. in new york city's nassau

county, loss of power may force votes to be counted by hand, delaying the results n.connecticut, officials will consider whether to relocate polling places, and west virginia may deploy generators to keep lights on and voting machines humming. >> reporter: meanwhile the two campaigns continue to battle over the perception of which campaign has the momentum. both are now advertising in three new normally reliable democratic states, michigan, minnesota and pennsylvania. the romney campaign says it's evidence they have expanded the map. the obama campaign says it's a sign that mr. romney has run out of routes to 270 electoral votes, the number needed to win so they are throwing hail marys in new states. little evidence to back up obama spin on that, savannah. three new polls out from the "new york times" showing the president leading narrowly in

three states, pennsylvania, maryland and ohio. >> tamron hall is over at the news desk. new york. >> reporter: offer closing its doors for two days for the first time in its decade they reopen this morning. cnbc's mandy drury is there. mandy, good morning. >> reporter: thanks for that. the lights are own and traders have returned to business. hopefully things returning to normal. mayor bloomberg is ringing the opening bell after two days of being in the dark. we've not seen close here in the markets in the united states for 1888 for two days due to a weather-related event. things that we're look for, stocks impacted negatively by hurricane sandy, hotels, retailers, home improvement stores such as home depot and there's many highways shut down and lots and lots of flights have also been cancelled.

back to you. >> all right, mandy. thank you very much. the teen who allegedly confessed to killing 10-year-old colorado schoolgirl jessica ridgeway has been charged as an adult with 17 counts, including four murder charges. prosecutors also say 17-yeaold austin sigg sexually assaulted jessica. if convicted as an adult, he faces life in prison. his defense team is still trying to send the case to juvenile court. well, nassau has compiled a first ever list of minerals found on another planet. the curiosity rover on mars finds the soil on the red planet remarkably similar to the volcanic sand found in hawaii. now, this discovery will help scientists figure out if our neighbor in the solar system could once have supported life. and broadway actor and choreographer jacob brent issued a call to musical arms from times square urging his fellow performers to help life new york city performers after sandy blew through. dozens of performers showed up.

♪ the sun will come out tomorrow ♪ ♪ but you've got to hang on until tomorrow ♪ ♪ come what may ♪ tomorrow, tomorrow, i love you, tomorrow ♪ >> you can join from n from home. the performers managed to he head -- to raise some cash for the red cross before they headed back to their new jobs over on broadway. it's 719 on -- ♪ today, today >> saw that coming, tamron. >> thank you very much. >> got to love her spirit. >> let's go back to al in atlantic city for a forecast. al? >> there were some stray cats moving through here, and threw themselves in the ocean. it was really sad, really sad. >> defend me, matt laut lauer,

defend me. >> keep walking, tamron, team walking. >> okay. let's see what we've got. this is what's left of sandy. making its way past pittsburgh now, and you can actually see not just rain but some snow and some frozen precip working its way in as well. we still have windy conditions to talk about. albany wind gusts to 23 miles per hour, pittsburgh 30 miles per hour and cincinnati 31. as we make our way into tomorrow, those winds still die down, but to the south, look at this, beckley vest virginia, 30-mile-per-hour winds and 30-mile-per-hour winds in washington. speaking of washington state, they have a big storm system coming into the pacific northwest. lots of rain, gale force winds and a lot of rain from the pacific northwest all the way down to northern california. we are talking about anywhere from 2 to 4 inches of rain, some >> good morning.ound 5

the weather will settle down today. just a few clouds hanging around. >> and that's your latest weather. matt? >> all right. a thank you very much. coming up, how much can one neighborhood bear? our visit to a community devastated by 9/11, by the crash of american airlines flight 587 and now sandy. plus much more on the storm's devastation from above. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

a live look at that crane still dangling in manhattan

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fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. ask your rheumatologist about humira, to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage before they stop you. >> this is wbal-tv 11 news in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall. it is all about the aftermath of sandy. we are continuing to follow the progress made by bge crews restoring the power. things seem to be going well. the utility is reporting close to 86,000 customers without power across the state. most of those were in baltimore county.

you should continue to report outages near you. 1-877-778-2222. let's check on the morning commute with sarah caldwell and traffic pulse 11. >> heavy delays around big area. but we are tracking serious accident and fire department activity in the fruitland area. klees mill road in sykesville, we are watching an accident rate eight miles per hour to its edmondson. bellona avenue is closed at the right side road due to a downed tree. inner loop of the beltway on the southside at 295, watch for an accident. police activity is related to that. if you are heading down to d.c., out of the above the capital left lane is onlyl

squeezing by. here is what it looks like on the west side. usual delays there. >> at least there was nothing going on, weather-wise. a few sprinkles, but we don't expect trouble for the morning commute. temperatures in the 30's and low 40's. make sure your address appropriately. i will put a 20% or 30% chance for a rain shower. it will not affect

that is the amusement pier in seaside heights, new jersey in much happier times, and here is a look at the situation there this morning. the aftermath of sandy. truly striking. we're going to check in with natalie who is high above the jersey shore checking out some of the damage this morning. we say good morning again to you. it's 7:30 on the east coast. i'm savannah guthrie alongside matt lauer. >> there are scenes like that all up and down the northeastern coast. i drove out to queens to visit some of the communities hit hard by the storms there. there's one neighborhood in particular that has dealt with so much in recent years, from the impact of 9/11, to the deadly crash of american airlines flight 587, and now they are being asked to cope

once again. we'll have more on that coming up. >> all right. we've got new details on that 80-ton crane here in midtown manhattan that partially collapsed during the storm. well, it's still hanging there. coming up, we'll hear from an expert who says based on what he saw he is not surprised it blew over, and we'll also talk about what plans there are to do something about it as it's still dangling high above the city. >> it will be a dramatic operation. and the dramatic stories of two babies who entered the world during the height of the storm, one born in a church gymnasium when an ambulance couldn't get the mother to the hospital on time. >> we want to begin with natalie. she is high above the jersey shore getting a hue of the visitoric destruction. natalie, good morning again. do you have a sense of the scope of how much of the shore side has been damaged here? >> well, we know that the damage that we are seeing here just in seaside, this stretches along for hundreds of miles really, up and down the jersey shoreline.

new jersey governor chris christie took an aerial tour as well of the area yesterday, and he called the damage incalculable. but for those who lost so much, this is beyond any dollar amount. the president will be joining the governor today to get an overview and to take a look firsthand at some of the damage we're seeing, but that pier there in seaside. of course, you may not be familiar with it, but many may know it sadly from snooki and "the jersey shore" cast having spent time here on these rides as well. i myself spent some time this summer on these rides with my kids, and, of course, it's unthinkable, but, of course, the amusement park, it's sad to see this, but what you see beyond this, what you see beyond the homes and structures that have been completely reduced to sm h

smithereens, boats piled on top of each other, cars on top of homes. my photographer did an excellent job showing me this morning this is strikingly similar to some of the images he remembers seeing covering hurricane andrew and flying over the area there in south florida as well. you see what's left. here was a roller coaster ride. it's pretty much a roller coaster in the ocean now. it's going to take a good long time to rebuild this area. governor chris christie vowing that that would begin today, that they would start just trying to clean up the area and get an assessment of the true damage and vow that new jersey will rebuild its shore but saying it may not be the same, but they are going to bring it back. savannah? >> and your images there this morning, natalie, show just how much work there is to be done. back to you in a moment. >> the travel nightmare caused by this storm. text tends well beyond the northeast to airports and train stations all across the country.

nbc's tom costello is at rage abe national airport which, by the way, is back in business this morning. tom, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, matt. systemwide another 2,600 flight cancellations today. that brings the total now to about 18,000. behind me though, this airport is bubbling to life. look out the window. we've got a couple of planes on the ramp here which is nice to see. the real problem though remains new york city. we have got newark airport and jfk on limited operations today, and laguardia remains closed. day three of a massive travel nightmare, and so much of it centers on new york city. flooding everywhere. the subway closed. the new jersey/new york p.a.t.h. train under water, and this, the big apple's three airports all struggling. floodwaters at laguardia were right up to the jet bridges. >> runways are flooded, and there are no flights leaving or

arriving. how much damage was done to the navigation equipment and lighting around them, we don't know yet. >> reporter: with new york and the northeast accounting for roughly a quarter of all u.s. air traffic every day, hundreds of thousands of travelers are anxious to get home, stranded in san francisco. >> i was out. gas leaks all over the place, flooding, and i don't know what to expect when i get back? all the way to london. >> the earlier i would be able to fly to boston is on friday, the 2nd, and that would just be to boston, not even new york. >> reporter: at airports nationwide it's been three days of travel strategizing. >> and we're going to have to take a flight to atlanta and a flight from atlanta to phoenix. if not we'll go back to charlotte, charlotte to houston and houston to phoenix. >> reporter: this is god news, boston, philly, chicago and washington are taking flights, going from deserted ghost towns with no planes and nothing open to a few flickers of activity.

at reagan national the first planes pulled in midday tuesday, a welcome site for those trying to get home to alabama. >> had my flights cancelled all day yesterday and now it looks like delta is going on time today at 4:00. i'm feeling lucky. >> but the airlines still have many planes parked away from the disaster zone at airports all over the country. not even close to resuming normal operations. >> i think realistically the system is going to start to get back to normal late weekend, early next week. we certainly have a large backlog of travelers that will need to be rebooked as well as very full flights later this week and into the weekend. >> reporter: that is not what emily wants it hear. she has pressing business back in phoenix. >> because i'm going to do halloween in phoenix with my friends. >> reporter: got to keep your priorities straight. we also need to tell you what's happening with amtrak, serious

disruptions along the northeast corridor. let's show you that very quickly. there is, because of new york city's tunnels being flooded out, there are -- there is no acela express service at all today and probably not tomorrow. no new york city to boston service, no new york city to buffalo, montreal or vermont. the bottom line is if you're trying to go anywhere south from newark, south, in other words, on down to d.c., richmond what have you, you probably have service. if you're trying to go north of newark, you're out of luck. back to you guys. >> all right. tom costello at reagan national this morning, tom, thanks very much. as sandy's floodwaters recede and relief efforts get under way, personal stories of tragedy, loss and heroism are emerging. we took a trip out to queens on tuesday running into downed trees and debris all along the way to visit a community that is once again facing enormous loss. it is an indelible image of sandy's destruction. in breezy point, some said whatever wasn't flooded was on

fire. in the end, more than 100 homes destroyed. >> we've got our children and our families. >> reporter: and just down the coast the same devastation. here in rockaway beach it was also a combination of the storm and fire. flames broke out here at the height of sandy, and because the water was so deep here, fire fighters simply couldn't get in to put them out, so the wind whipped the flames from building to building, home to home. this was the harbor light pub, very well known in this area, one of the reasons the owner of that restaurant lost his son during the attacks of 9/11. and when i got out of the car here a short time ago, i had an immediate and eerie sense of deja vu. the reason is this. back on november 12th, 2001, american airlines flight 587 took off from john f. kennedy airport, a short distance from here. it wasn't airborne very long, and it came straight down, nose first. it crashed where that gray house is right now.

260 people on board died. i anchored the show from here the next morning. i'm matt lauer in belle harbor where flight 587 crashed into a house behind me, the destruction devastating. it's a neighborhood that has been asked to bear more than it should have to. rockaway lost 57 people on 9/11 and flight 587 crashed here soon after, and now almost every block, homes destroyed, and along with them a lifetime of memories. linda humphry grew up here. talk to me a little bit about this neighborhood. >> this neighborhood, you can't say enough about this neighborhood. we've been through a lot with, you know, 9/11 and planes crashing and we all pulled together. it's unbelievable, you know, the neighborhood feel you get in rockaway beach and belle harbor here. >> reporter: these are pictures linda took of sandy battering her neighborhood. she said she decided to stick it

out despite a mandatory evacuation thinking last year's hurricane irene wasn't so bad. so did many of her neighbors. the owners of this house barely survived. they fled their home at 6:00 monday night. it broke apart soon after. neighborwide david scharf finds himself searching for keepsakes of places where he learned to ride a bike. >> i grew up here basically in my childhood home and it's basically gone. the water ripped through here last night and this morning and it's utter devastation. >> reporter: your parents still live here? >> my parents still live here. they are safely in brooklyn, and we're trying to salvage the remnants of what's left of the home. >> reporter: what would you like to find for your parent's sake? >> i'd like to find some photographs, for my children's sake my childhood photographs. i'd like to find some things from my grandparents that my grandparents had here. these are real treasures. hopefully we find them.

>> reporter: chief james mcnally says his fire fighters fought hard to save this neighborhood. have you ever seen anything like that before where you simply couldn't get in to where the buildings were on fire? >> 30 years on a fire department. i've been in snowstorms, other hurricanes. units were not able to get into rockaway last night. no units got in here for close to two hours. >> reporter: what is that like for guys who are trained, to go in and put fires out? >> i'm sure it was frustrating because units were staged on high ground right across the bridge, and they were able to see the fires, and a lot of them have family and friends over here, and what happened was, you know what, they just couldn't come here. you can't drive a fire truck through five to seven feet of water. we had to wait for the water surge to recede a little bit and by then you can see the results here, catastrophic. >> reporte >> back to the harbor light pub burned down where so much happened. the owner tragically lost his son on 9/11.

he spoke to us after the crash of flight 587. >> everybody, it wasn't an i day, it was a we day and an everybody day. there are so many people in this neighborhood that are firemen and pd, civilians. everybody helped. this community will be together forever. >> reporter: his words spoken in a different time, echoing and being tested today in a neighborhood that has answered the call before. really was an extraordinary trip out there, and all the people that came up to on the street say i wonder if people at fema know how much they need them now. they have no communication no, electricity. cell phones don't work. they don't know that people out there know about their struggles. >> astonishing to see and to hear how many of them talk about that close-knit community, but as you said how much can one community be asked to bear. well, we want to head to another community that's been hard hit by this storm, atlantic city. that's where al roker is this morning. al, good morning again to you. >> good morning, savannah and matt, and right behind me, this

is the boardwalk. it makes kind of an "l" turn, but as you can see there's the atlantic where the boardwalk should be. you can see the cement pilings. that's where the boardwalk resting on, so it is going to take a lot of work to get that back to where it is. work is going on, even as we speak. take a look over here. you've got front-end loaders pushing dirt and sand that's washed up to try to clear the streets out. let's show you what's going on though. the other story is the power, folks without power, and it's getting cold here in the northeast for a lot of these folks affected. above normal temperatures in new england right now, but look to the northeast. you've got below to much below normal temperatures today, on into tomorrow, and that cold air moves north and east into the areas already affected without power, so we hope for those folks' sake they get their power back on. for the rest of the country, heavy rain moves into the pacific northwest with a lot of wind. we're looking at rainy conditions in new england, windy

conditions still today around the great lakes for a second day in a row. plenty of sunshine, gulf coast, texas, on into the southwest. >> good morning. the weather will settle down a little bit. breezy and >> you're mesmerized by the beauty of the atlantic, but you realize when it turns it turns very quickly. matt? >> thanks, al. we'll check back in with you in a bit. the crane now dangling over the streets of manhattan properly secured before the storm? new questions, and what's going to be done to get that crane

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you're standing here on the street and you look up, and there it is, that crane that is absolutely just teetering and hanging over the city streets. right now i'm standing at the edge of the evacuation zone. no one in or out in a four-block radius. city officials trying to figure out how to get it down safely, and this morning we have learned there have been problems with this crane at this site before. the massive crane collapse caught on home video monday. sandy's winds new york it down like a toy, scaring everyone below. >> it's not clear whether t if, god forbid, anything should fall from that -- from the top of that crane. >> reporter: 80 tons of metal now dangling 1,000 feet up over one of new york's busiest streets, west 57th. the crane helping to build this super posh apartment building called 157, slated to be the tallest residential tower in all of manhattan. >> there's a main tower.

it seems to be well secured to the building. the only part that is in danger of falling, we think, is the boom. >> reporter: this crane has been cited for safety issues in the past. according to city inspection reports, the crane's owner, pinnacle industries, has been fined several times. march 2012, a violation for failure to safeguard all persons and property. in april another violation, this time for operation of crane in an unsafe manner, and in august, crane leaking hydraulic fluid. all the violations have been resolved. still unclear, what caused this to happen, but after watching the news coverage, one of the country's most renowned experts believes this was human error. the crane not secured in the right position. >> the proof is in the videos. it was at a high boom angle. they know it can be blown over.

>> reporter: two city engineers have inspected the damaged crane. so far they say no indication of anything improper. >> it's conceivable nobody did anything wrong whatsoever. there wasn't even a malfunction, just a strange combust of wind. >> reporter: cranes are an issue in the series after a series of accidents. this crane collapsed in manhattan killing seven people and months later another crane killed in manhattan killing two people. the city tightened regulations, and before this storm told all operators to secure their cranes. now the giant task of keeping this giant from falling. engineers may tie it to the building which would take days. getting it down could take much longer. >> i would say approximately maybe four to six weeks. they are going to have to bring in another tower crane and go alongside of it and take it down that way. >> reporter: back to a live

picture of the crane dangling over new york city, we raechd out to pinnacle, the crane company. we were unable to reach them. the company managing the construction site now tells nbc news it had the crane inspected just days before the storm and secured it following all procedures, and they are cooperating fully with the city. back here on the ground, city officials say they want to get back up there today to figure out what to do next. it could be several more days, if not longer, that this whole area is closed. savannah. >> jeff rossen, what a sight and maybe one we're looking at for a long time. thank you for your report. back with more of our coverage right after this. hi.

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>> this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> time for a check on your morning commute. here is sarah caldwell and traffic pulse 11. >> more and more folks of getting out there, and we have a lot of delays we are tracking and some accidents. eastbound 40, we have an accident there. west side, delays there. york road, old york road, fire activity with lanes closed. north and west side, holding onto delays. we want to let you know about the sykesville accident at klees mill road and liberty road. heavier on the west side

beginning and reisterstown road. 15 miles per hour all the way down to edmondson. caton avenue and benson ave, watch for crash. here is a quick live look at traffic. update for you on 95 and 198. outer loop accident on 95 and the capital beltway. eight miles of jammed conditions there. usual delays approaching middletown to mount carmel. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> weather is nice and quiet, at least. sprinkles in a few neighborhoods, but other than that, nothing that will slow down the commute. upper 30s in the northern suburbs. forecasts on this halloween day -- no problems expected for trick-or-treating. slight chance for eight shower

or sprinkle high temperature or 55. this will be the fifth team going into the weekend. going into the weekend. -- the

small business owner: question seven means thousands of jobs... in baltimore and across maryland... anncr: and labor groups... construction worker: question seven lets us bring good jobs... back home. anncr: the teachers back it... teacher: millions of dollars will go to our schools... and not other states. anncr: and so do elected leaders of both parties... councilman john olszewski: new jobs and a stronger economy. endorsed by the naacp, police and firefighters small business owner: good jobs... teacher: and better schools construction worker: vote for question seven. i've always been lucky. flew 37 bombing missions over germany. made it home every time. i'm lucky to have good friends who are all still around, and we're all lucky to have a friend named ben. ben's protected our medicare and veterans' benefits. and he's helping my 13 grandchildren afford college. he's my friend, ben.

i hope he's your friend, too. i'm ben cardin, and i'm honored to approve this message. it's 8:00 now on a wednesday morning. it is october 31st, 2012. halloween morning. a little different one for us here on the "today" show this year for obvious reasons. new york city and the surrounding areas slowly bouncing back from the storm that was sandy. we are happy to have some folks back on the plaza, and we hope things are going well where you are waking up this morning as well. we have cancelled our halloween celebration today, but on friday a pick me up for storm-weary people around here. aerosmith live in concert live on the plaza. that's right. the show will go on, and by friday we will need a change of pace, so if you can do it safely, leave your homes and come on down to join steven

tyler, joe perry and the guys for what is sure to be a great show out on our plaza. >> a great pick me up. >> just another, another story with a positive side. families who weathered sandy and came out with new bundles of joy on the other side including one woman who gave birth after just making it to a makeshift shelter in a church gym. what a story. we're going to talk to her. >> and we'll go back to natalie flying in a helicopter. she's been giving us an aerial view of some of the damage along the new jersey shore. first, nbc's lester holt also on the jersey shore. he's in the very hard hit town of point pleasant beach. lester, good morning again. >> reporter: good morning. it's a beautiful sunrise over the beach, but the beach is only half of what it used to be. you hear of storm surging and hear of water moving inland and that's what it is, and what you don't appreciate until you see all of this is until it rearranges the landscape. this is the boardwalk at point pleasant beach. this was a motel, the kind of

damage you see in any community up and down this beach, and then there was sand everywhere. when that water comes in, takes on the sand. it really removes the beach. this, we're standing, i want to show you, this is the gate right here. that's the gate to the pool area, and this over here this is the lip of the pool. i'm standing in the pool. it's filled with sand. this isn't just a block off the beach. it's two blocks off the beach or three. it goes in for blocks and blocks and blocks. homes flooded in the only with water but sand. president obama will be visiting new jersey this afternoon. he'll tour the area with governor christie to get a severance what's happened here. of course, it's a disaster area, but this morning we've already seen residents out taking tours of their own, walking along the beach, shaking their heads and hugging each other in some cases trying to take in, trying to find something to compare it to. that's been very difficult because there really isn't much to compare the kind of damage that they have seen here. the governor said we will rebuild this area, but he talked about the jersey shore of his

youth. he says people of my age, it will never be the same. we'll rebuild but it won't be the same. i'm sure he'll share those sentiments with the president during that afternoon tour. >> lester holt in point pleasant beach, thank you very much. >> want to get a check of the day's other stories. we'll check out the jersey shore with tamron hall at the news desk. >> good morning, everyone. the northeast is still trying to recover from hurricane sandy. a series of fires broke out in one hard-hit shore town. at heat 55 deaths are now blamed on the east coast superstorm. thousands of people are stranded in their homes forcing some rescuers to take to the air. more than 6 million utility customers are still without power today. in new york city, commuters still had no subway or train service and schools were closed for three days. signs of hope as the new york stock exchange reopens this morning and limited air travel resumes at jfk and newark liberty international airport. after putting his campaign on

hold for the hurricane, republican mitt romney resumes a full schedule today with three stops in florida. on friday he'll join running mate congressman paul ryan for a big rally in ohio. both campaigns are also unleashing a blizzard of final week tv ads to sway undecided voters in key swing states. yet another shark attack in california, but unlike last week's victim the 25-year-old surfer bitten on tuesday has survived. he's been hospitalized and is in fair condition. fellow surfers helped rescue the man who was suffering from a 14-inch bite from what experts say was likely a great white. and now for a look at what's trending today, our quick roundup of what has you talking online. disney's announcement tuesday that it is buying lukas film for more than $4 billion is a huge deal online. disney has vowed to make at least three more "star wars" movies with the first one due out 2015, circle your calendar, and some diehard fans are

wondering how the entertainment giant disney will handle the cherished film franchise. octomom nadya suleman has checked in to a rehab program to deal with anxiety and stress. she has been taking xanax under a doctor's care but felt she needed a treatment program to help with her recovery. in the meantime, nannies and friends will take care of her sextuplets and six older children. and a baby walrus has survived hurricane sandy with help from dedicated humans. he became an online sensation this month when he went to the new york aquarium on coney island. he wanted the aquarium and staff members stayed on site to give the walrus around-the-clock care. there's a kiss. back to matt and savannah. >> all right, tamron. thank you very much. >> i'm not sure a kiss from a walrus is a reward. okay, maybe. let's get a check of the wetter

from al who is in atlantic city this morning. good morning, al. >> good morning, guys. at the iconic boardwalk in atlantic city. the problem is it should be 200 yards that way, unfortunately. the power of the atlantic combined with sandy really destroying this boardwalk, and the mayor says they don't know when they will be able to rebuild it, but there is cleanup work going on just beyond where the boardwalk is right now. they are working hard at doing that. let's talk about sandy, the remnants of it. west of pittsburgh it's spinning around, still bringing gusty wind and showers as well. also bringing snow in west virginia where they have already picked up, some areas, as much as 30 inches of snow, and they are not quite done yet. we have snowfall amounts of anywhere from 9 to 12 inches of snow. right around elkins, west virginia, but a wide swath of joe from just south of johnstown, pennsylvania all the way down to boon town, west

virginia. other storms moving into the pacific northwest. that will bring 1 to 4 inches of rain all the way down to northern california. plenty of sunshine from nevada into the southwest. gulf coast, breezy conditions still exist as far south as georgia, alabama and mississippi. >> good morning. the weather will settle down today. just a few clouds hanging around. >> and that's your latest weather. matt? >> thanks, al. up next, imagine going into

labor in the middle of a storm like sandy. we'll meet two babies who had remarkable entrances into the world, and we'll talk to their relieved parents right after this. [ mom ] we already have a tv. would you like to know more about it? yeah, but let me put my wife on speaker. hi! hi. it's led and it has great picture quality. i don't know... it's ultra slim... maybe next year. you could always put it on layaway and pay a little at a time. alright. we'll take it! ah! i love you! hmm! ahem. football. [ male announcer ] shop now. get the hottest brands on your list today... like the lg 55 inch led tv. and put it on layaway now so you have more time to pay. walmart. perfect golden color. rich in fiber. my dad taught me, and i taught my son out there. morning, pa. wait... who's driving the...? ♪ 99 bushels of wheat on the farm, 99 bushels of wheat ♪ [ male announcer ] yep, there's 8 layers of whole grain fiber in those mini-wheats® biscuits...

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into the world. >> it was more crazy than we could possibly imagine. >> reporter: julia was having contractions at new york university langone medical center when the power went out and the backup generator failed. her husband was getting something to eat >> i walked into the cafeteria, full-on blackout. he couldn't see the storm but could hear it. >> i think the hurricane was battering the hospital. everything was shaking, and i heard this crazy rushing of water sound. it was coming off the fdr into first avenue, and into the hospital. the basement was flooded. the ground floor was flooded at that point. >> reporter: pack in the delivery room julia was having powerful contractions. >> they were like 30 seconds apart. it started being like really painful. >> reporter: and, i mean, at that point i was like this -- this is insane, this couldn't get any worse. >> he stepped in and even helped doctors give his wife an epidural in the dark. >> reporter: i was holding a

cell phone above her while they were putting in the iv and putting in the epidural. >> with no power to safely deliver the baby, the hospital evacuated julia and the other patients. >> they took her off the bed, got her on this med sled and proceeded to slide her really slowly down eight flights of stairs. there's a lot of screaming going on. there were about six people with newborns. like a group of six people with oxygen tank and other medical attachments and this baby trying to get by us, down more quickly than us. >> reporter: after 20 minutes they reached the ground floor and rushed to mt. sinai hospital, but the roads were dangerous. >> as we were driving up third avenue i hear a loud bang on top of the ambulance, and once we got to the hospital, we found out that a tree, a tree branch or something had fallen right on the ambulance as we were driving up third avenue. >> reporter: couple made it just in time. within minutes micah was born, arriving into the world as the

calm after the storm. >> i've never been in so much pain as, you know, throughout all these hours and then as soon as he was born, you know, you just forget. >> reporter: hard to forget that one. nine bayne babies were transported from nyu to mt. sinai in the storm. 42 babies in all in born in that hospital during the height of sandy. you can't be epidural by cell phone light. >> wow, what a story. andrea canning, thank you so much. another story. christine and dave had their own dramatic story. they are here with their brand new baby liam. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> well, christine, i want to hear what happened, but first, how are you doing? how is the baby doing? >> we're both doing great. he's -- he's amazing. five weeks premature. he's perfect. >> well, you two are pretty amazing. david, take us through this. christine was five weeks early, experiencing contractions at the height of the storm. you decide we've got to get in

the car and drive to the hospital and then what happened? >> well, we actually, because of the road conditions they told us absolutely do not drive, to call the emergency squad, which luckily is only about five minutes from our house, so they get to our house in an ambulance and a couple rescue vehicles. we get christine in the ambulance, and we start going out to the hospital we wanted to go to. at that point in time they got a point that said that the hospital's generators had crashed so go to a second hospital. en route to the second hospital they said that the roads were too blocked, they couldn't get there, but the first hospital had its generators back up so turn around there and then the first ambulance -- >> not to cut it short, i want to make sure we get to the dramatic conclusion here because christine, you end up in an emergency mobile unit inside a church gym. what was your delivery like under those circumstances?

>> en route thereto contractions were at that point two minutes apart. i panicked, and we got to -- at that point they couldn't continue to the second hospital and turned around and got to the makeshift hospital where i was panicking. being liam was five weeks early, they didn't have the proper -- they didn't have a nicu there, who he needed in case he had difficulty breathing, but at that point they began -- they picked up dramatically. we arrived there at 9:50, and right before he was born they didn't think it was going to happen. they thought it was another episode of false labor, but he came at 11:00 p.m. >> made quite a dramatic -- >> no epidural. >> and no epidural. christine, my goodness, i don't know how you did that, but we're so happy to see you and see little liam. >> neither do i. >> and just wish you all the best. >> thank you >> thank you. >> well, coming up next, some remarkable images before and

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america runs on dunkin'. . back now at 8:21 with more of the widespread damage from sandy. it's been described as a once in a lifetime storm, but a week ago there was one group of scientists who saw it coming and let us new. nbc's keir simmons caught up with them. keir, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, matt. thousands of miles from the storm here in england, that group of scientists were making cutting-edge calculations last week providing an early warning of the damage sandy would do. it was a storm warning that must have seemed incredible to some. and because it was so early helped millions of americans prepare for the worst. one week ago today, last wednesday, al relayed a dire forecast on "today." scientists in europe predicting sandy would hit the east coast. >> the european model keeps it

hugging the coast, and by early tuesday morning it's inland in the northeast. >> reporter: early call came from the european weather center in england, 250 staff posting 150 million weather observations every day but have seen nothing like this. a hurricane making a left hook into the northeast. when you first saw this, what was your reaction? >> obviously we were concerned. even eight days ahead we could see the tropical cyclone developing she to assess the odds of sandy hitting the east coast, their super computer had created 51 forecasts, all had one outcome. >> all took the storm north and then towards the eastern seaboard. >> reporter: by the weekend, the american and european models had converged. without these forecasts the human cost might have been far worse. essentially you and the other

250 scientists working here probably saved lives? >> i think it certainly motivates all of the people who work here. >> reporter: and global warming could make their work more important than ever. >> if it turned out to be the case that such storms became more common, then our weather forecasting models need to factor that in. >> reporter: if the weather patterns are changing, then so is our ability to predict them. already the scientists are planning more research to help them and all of us plan for the future. because if it's true, as new york's governor says, that we are now dealing with extreme weather patterns in a way we haven't seen, then centers like the one you've just seen are more important than ever, and, matt, that warning from al last week was so important. >> certainly was. keir simmons, good work on their part and yours, by the way. >> want to show you remarkable images before and after the storm. they really highlight the impact. that's a building on eighth

avenue here in manhattan. here's what happened. that's before and then you get a picture and view right inside. >> there was a parking garage right down in the financial district high and dry on the left. here's what it looks like now. >> and, of course, the new york skyline which is partially dark these days, that's before and then we can show you the picture after, and, in fact, i think we have video of the moment the lights went out on monday night. >> there it is. obviously somebody just taking a scan of the damage when everything went dark, except for some flashing lights. by the way, so many people without power. one of the things now that's become a problem, charging your phones and everything else. lots of people in this city have been trying to help out their neighbors, offering power strips, coming out of stores that do have power. this guy, for example, got one where people just plugged in on the street and that's the way we're getting by around here. >> yeah. necessity, the mother of invention. those are power hungry new yorkers right there. we will be right back right after this.

>> this is wbal-tv 11 news. today in. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. let's get a final check on the morning commute with sarah caldwell. >> southbound 83 n. padonia road, crash off to the side. impacting your right from shawan road to the accident scene. nuwood drive, watch for an accident, with delays from i-70. bellona ave and bright side road, closures continue to be in effect. inner and outer loop showing delays from belair towards

providence, at on the inner loop from greenspring towards the j.f.x. you looking at the delays on the north and west side. accident on southbound 97 and 32. standstill at 198 all the way to the capital beltway. still experiencing over eight miles of jammed conditions. slow go from belair road towards dulaney valley. >> not a whole lot happening, weather-wise. a couple of sprinkles and during the day today, but not a big deal. take a heavier jacket with you. a few scattered clouds. maybe a rain shower, breezy in chilly. no problems for to retreating. it should state dry with temperatures below average in the mid-50's on thursday,

friday, and saturday. don't forget to set your clocks back one hour before you go to bed saturday night. >> back with another update at 8:56.

8:30 now on this wednesday morning. it's the 31st of october, 2012, aka halloween, and normally about this time we'd be in the thick of our costume contest, but instead we're just happy to get outside and say hi to some of the great folks who came down to say hi to us. got stranded, somebody spending her sweet 16 in new york city and not by choice. we've seen a lot of smiles on the plaza this morning, and coming up, we will tell you

about some last-minute halloween koss teams if you're stuck at home and you want to try to pull together a costume, what you can do. quick and easy is the name of the game there. >> very nice. >> plus, we'll show you how to turn the pumpkin seeds from your jack-o'-lantern into some yummy snacks that will last you days and days. >> these are simple. from pumpkins to apples you know the new ipad mini comes out on friday, but guess what? we have one in our studio right now, there it is. we are going to talk about what it can do, what it can't do, the price of it and whether it's worth it. we'll be doing that in just a couple of minutes. >> suddenly al roker wishes he were right back here in the studio, as much as he loved covering the storm. >> i might get my hands on this before al roker, that will be a first. >> al, good morning. we'll tell you all about it. >> curse you, matt lauer. >> you'll be the second guy on our block to own one. >> i can't believe it.

all right. let's take a look at that's going on the next couple of days starting with today. we are still dealing with sandy making its way through pennsylvania. lack at these temperatures right now. cold air really working its way in, and the temperatures are in the 30s and low 40s, and as we move into the day today we're going to see those temperatures not really get much higher. i mean, we're saying very, very chilly and going on into the next few days for our friends who really don't have power. this is not great news. high temperatures only in the upper 40s to low 50s and then overnight we're looking at overnight lows dropping back into the 30s in parts of the northeast. for today, we do have rain showers, heavy thunderstorms in the pacific northwest with mountain snows. still windy around the great lakes with wrap-around showers still hanging around through new england. plenty of sunshine through the gulf coast and we're looking at plenty of sunshine making its way through the southwest as

well. as we see in the distance, we've got a coast guard helicopter checking things out along the shore line here. we've been seeing different aircraft flying around, taking part in obviously assessing damage and just making sure things are safe around the region. of course, the president's coming in later today to tour the area with governor c >> good morning. the weather will settle down a little bit. breezy and >> that's your latest weather.

now back to my nemesis. >> your archnemesis. mr. roker, thanks very much. let's get a few birthday greetings from our good friend will lard scott. >> put a happy birthday smile and your happy birthday face and take a look at the jar spins about. happy birthday, hubert hendauer and he proud hi served the united states navy during world war ii. god lost navy. navy memorial is going to be 25 years old here, down in pennsylvania. silver springs, maryland, neighboring down, right across the rad here, esther lavigne 100 years old. sweet esther, very interested in politics and all kinds of issues. take a look at cruz laura from austin, texas. 100 years. always, always looks dapper. handsome fellow with a smile on

his beautiful face. sweet marjorie sandal. she is 100 years old today, and she loves spending all kind of time in her garden to grow things to eat. henry, love henry, henry preston of chattanooga tennessee, is 100 years old today. speaking of longevity, always love the lord. louise peartree, partridge in a, 100 years old, great dancer and loves to have all kind of moves, cha, cha, cha, the mamba and eddie seitlin from birm ham, alabama, 106 years old today, and he loves rooting for the crimson tide. that's it. that's all. new york is just up the road a piece. >> all right. willard, thanks very much.

apple's newest tablet the ipad mini doesn't hit stores until friday but today we're getting a sneak peek in our studio. >> i kind of love this. our technology expert got her hands on the much-hyped gadget. katie, good morning. >> good morning. >> by point of reference this is a normal ipad, this is the mini and then you can compare it to the size -- that's an iphone 5. >> i just held it. i loved it. i hugged it. what is the difference, i mean, from a technological standpoint between this ipad and the mini ipad? >> it's obviously as soon as you can pick it up you can tell how light it is. in terms of features, obviously much smaller. 7.9 inches as compared to the ipad 4 which is 9.7 inches, 20% thin and 53% lighter and jam packed inside there are the features. kind of like an ipad 2 so front facing, rear facing, 5 mega pixel camera. i was impressed by the battery life, really nerdy. had ten-plus hours. a really nice feature, but in terms of everything you would expect from an ipad it's right

in there. fun size. >> as i continue to play carol merrill, if you've got one of these, why do you need it? >> a one-size-fits-all. it's your choice, another option for the consumer, if you wanted something more portable that's seven-inch form factor you now have choices. >> put it in your purse or your murse in your case. >> in terms of having a more portable option, noticed a big difference, use it in bed, handle it with one hand. >> the price point is exclusive though especially with all the other lower price tablets? >> all these 7-inch tablets on the market for $200 that are farrelly comparable. the price point is a bit high. the big kicker here is people love apple, they love the

ecosystem. familiar with apps and itunes. >> aren't there a bunch of number of pre-orders? >> already pushed back. price point isn't hurting at all. >> starts at 329 because if you want all the bells and whistles. >> correct. >> katie, thank you very much. >> have to really spend for my christmas present. thank you. coming up next on this halloween morning, creating last-minute costumes you can easily put together at home but first, this is "today" on nbc.

it's oysternomics 101. you start with a u.s. senator named ben. by helping restore thousands of acres of oyster beds, he kept hundreds of oystermen on the job... which keeps wholesalers in business... and that means more delivery companies... making deliveries to more restaurants...

which hire more workers. and that means more oystermen. it's like he's out here with us. he's my friend, ben. i hope he's your friend, too. i'm ben cardin, and i approved this message. back now at 8:40 on this halloween morning, if your plans got sidetracked by the storm and you're procroft nating, guess what, not too late to get into the spirit of halloween. elizabeth mayhew has fun, homemade costume ideas. you've really pulled this together at the last minute for us, right? >> got this call at 4:00, 4:30 so i really had to scrounge, and i just think everyone needs to

know, new york is closed, like most stores. i couldn't even find a place to buy a t-shirt so i really had to scrounge my closet, through my bins, craft staff, just to come up with it. >> if you're at home saying what am i going to do, there are options. first of all, what are you? >> i am 50 shades of gray. >> i happen to recently painted a house gray, this is a free costume. wearing a gray dress, my daughter's gray sweater and i threaded the paint shades through a ribbon and tied it around my neck and there you go. >> got your clever krogs on this morning. >> caroline, come on out, and i bet we can get what she's dressed at. >> caroline, cha what can i do at the dress store, took a pair of pajama bottoms and glued smarties on them. she is smarty pants. takes a little bit of thinking. can eat them afterwards. >> a little bit of glasses to complete the look if you've got

the look. >> thanks so much. >> let's bring out our next model. he's got a clever costume, too. see if we can figure this one out. >> a orange t-shirt, went online, just googled pi symbol and copied it in pink and he is pumpkin pye. >> now we're got miss lucy, shall we say, pretty as a picture. >> everybody has a frame in their house. take whatever is in it, take the glass out and put it on your face, hold it like that and you are a self-portrait. >> very cute. >> and all i did was cut out a little label for her name underneath it, and that's it. >> lucy completes the picture with her cute smile. thank you, lucy. >> okay. now we've got our knocks med el george, we all recognize his outfit. >> george is easy because my son has this shirt. it's a red and white striped shirt, a ski hat and then we happened who doesn't walk out of a movie once in a while with 3-d glasses, that's what those, are

punched the lenses out, that's it straight from the closet. >> where's waldo. >> thank you so much. >> now a couple of costumes here. we've got baylin and kozmo. >> one is a black-eyed pea, looks like a real black eye and a cutout pea on his black shoe and kazmu is a split p. we took a zip-up jersey and cut a "p" in half. >> do you have the sparkly stuff around the house or did you get it at the drug store? >> got it at walgreens. >> they have all kinds of -- go to the craft aisle and those are close, that's baylin's ski shirt. >> the "p" brothers. thank you so much. >> and then we've got an election-themed costume. >> okay. this is my friend charlie. >> hi, charlie, and he -- this is actually his costume. he is an undecided voter, so i

actually did have these, this is the one thing where you might say, wow, eluz beth, where did you get those, from fat boy, them getting ready for the election but tons of election paraphernalia out there. >> what is fat boy? >> fat boy is an online fat boy.com and you get big printouts of famous people or just go online and print out two images and put one in each hand and make one for each hand. undecided. >> thank you, charlie. five more days to make up your mind or six. >> thank you so much, elizabeth. let's have all our costumes come out one more time. appreciate it. up next, we'll stay in the halloween theng theme and show you how to turn the leftover pumpkin seeds into snacks. you how to turn the leftover pumpkin seeds into snacks. gill simmons it's my coffee when i want it. you press a button, you have great dunkin' coffee. i got my coffee for the morning, i got my dunkin' k-cup packs for the rest of the day. only available at dunkin' donuts restaurants. america runs on dunkin' coffee.

i'm drinkin' a dunkin' latte. i'm in love with my dunkin' latte. it is a treat. they're packed with flavor. it's my kind of latte. try the simply delicious latte everyone can enjoy. america runs on dunkin'! if there's one thing most of you have in your homes this halloween morning it's pumpkins, and their seeds can make for

quick and very easy snacks. gail simmons from "food & wine" magazine and braffa's "top chef" is here to show us how it's done. happy halloween. >> thanks for having me. >> a lot of people throw the seeds out. i think the pumpkin seeds are the best part, i love them and so many ways to use them and cook with them. if you have an oven you can use this halloween, i say save your pumpkin seeds. >> what they look like in the pumpkin. >> exactly. >> here's the seed inside the seed. >> these are hulled pumpkin seeds raw and these are toasted. i'll show you how to taest them. >> these are good plain. >> put them on salads, toss them with other nuts. i've toesed them in a little bit of oil and put some cinnamon and sugar into them. >> making a sweet version of toasted pumpkin seeds. >> and later on i'll show you how to make a salty persian. >> this i'll use in a pumpkin seed and chocolate chip scone. >> because you put oil on them

you don't have to put anything on the tray. >> they come out like that. >> boy, they shrink a lot. >> shrink a little bit and also get nice and brown and toasty, so you hold these for me. >> dump them in there. i have a little bit of sugar, flour, baking, sugar, salt, i'm going to put my butter in, and then i'll use my fingers, don't be shy here, and you're going to course it out like this, and it becomes a really course meal. looks like this right here, and now toss those seeds right in there, okay, great, and with them i'll add some chocolate chips. >> what kind of pumpkin seeds are those? >> my favorite. >> i'll make them all and then i'll mixed it with whipped eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. comes together in a beautiful dough. >> a pasty dough. what's the consistency you're looking for? >> very sticky and when you mix it up it should come together easily and once it's around i'll roll it out on to my tray. >> is it really that simple or

you have to work that further? >> you don't actually. can work it together with your hands once you roll it out on to the dough, and then what i'm going to do is bring it all together like this, into a round, very, very simple. >> that is a big scone. >> this is one giant scone. >> if i cut it into wedges, you can just cut it into wedges like this, and then you're going to take each one. >> you really want it that lose. >> you can mix it a little bit more, but we're on a deadline here. >> fine. >> and then brush it with a bill bit of buttermilk. there's buttermilk in the recipe as well. i'll sprinkle them with a beautiful coarse sugar and more of the cinnamon toasted pumpkin seeds and i'll take each one and put them on my tray, bake them at 400 and they come out beautiful, shiny and delicious.

>> those are beautiful. >> have one. >> please. >> made a version of the pumpkin seeds. instead of with sugar and cinnamon, use salt and cayenne version. i love those as well. these are great on salad, tossing with mixed nuts. like to eat them plain and there's a great way to use up your pumpkin seeds. >> i'm not the biggest fan of scones, these are really good. >> chocolate is good, pumpkin seeds fun and nutty. >> and you didn't spill anything on yourself. these are pretty good. >> gail simmons, thanks very much: >> the tenth season of "top chef" premeals thursday on our sister network bravo but first, this is "today" on nbc.

well, so many people on the east coast are dealing with the impact of sandy, but we are happy to say a lot of are you still get night halloween spirit, and we actually asked some of you to send in your photos of your costumes. you certainly delivered. we'll take a look at a couple of them we have gotten this morning. what is that? i like the dog >> i know. >> it's snow white, i think. >> yeah, that's snow white. >> looks like the evil version. >> charlize theron version. >> the dog's costume is pretty cute. >> the dogs have no choice in things like that. >> look at the owl, that's very

cute. >> pretty well done. >> i will say that i always look forward to halloween here on the plaza, except the dressing up myself part, but i always love to see the creativity of other people's costumes. i miss that this year. >> this is our viewer mandy. she is a fortune teller, complete with the boots. >> oh, yeah. like when you would go to the arcade as a kid. >> oh, that's pretty cool. >> what is that? >> oh, i know this one. this is the old ball and chain, is that what it is? >> yeah, i guess. >> oh, no. >> that has raymond rodriguez all locked up. >> next, the goodyear blimp. >> simple, to the point. don't have to guess. >> i'm always amazed that people can create these costumes. >> some are quite crafty. >> mr. and mrs. fox, shauna and spencer sent that one in. we'll go back to the '80s for

pacman, reminds me of the '80s. >> a lot of people watching right now, kids have no idea what that is. that was the video game to end all video games when we were younger. >> the world's greatest games. >> i love that. >> like the couples, the duets. >> the whole family getting into the act. they are flip flops >> i thought they were turkeys. >> that you would draw as a kid. >> when you look at them really quickly, they do look like turkeys. >> and i like how each toe has a nice pedicure. >> and these are the x-men family members, superheros, tonya stevenson and her family, rogue, mystique, storm, wolverine and the little boy in front is cyclops. >> look at nails on that guy. scratch my back. >> and last but not least the mary poppins family. >> and the little boy on the end with the cane. so cute. >> very cute. >> and, again, we apologize to

you folks at home and the people here in the new york area we did not do our halloween costumes this this year. save it up. make it even better and do it next year. the events of the last couple of days put us on the sidelines this year. >> definitely. want to try to keep the spirit going. creative ways to sell wait halloween with your kids, especially if you've been impacted by the storm. >> first a look at your local news, weather and a lot more. yo storm. >> first a look at your local news, weather and a lot more. es impacted by the storm. >> first a look at your local news, weather and a lot more.

>> this is wbal-tv 11 news in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. flooding from hurricane sandy is causing minor problems around maryland lottery the worst may be in howard county. this spill happened when power

to the plant was knocked out by the storm. the county said it called the spill unacceptable and has ordered a

>> looks like the weather is going to be nice and quiet this halloween day. could be a sprinkel out there. otherwise, chilly and dry. that is the story going into the weekend.